Rangnick hints at frontrunner for Man Utd job as plan to mimic Guardiola emerges

Manchester United interim coach Ralf Rangnick has hinted at the club's long-term strategy as they aim to replicate the success of rivals Manchester City.

Rangnick highlighted United's city rivals as the benchmark for the Red Devils and claimed that the synergy between coaching and recruitment was key for any success.

The 63-year-old is in place at Old Trafford until the end of the current campaign, having been appointed as interim coach in November to replace the sacked Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Mauricio Pochettino remains the favourite for the United job, as revealed last month, with the Old Trafford hierarchy confident of landing their man.

That revelation was later fleshed out by Mirror Football reporting that the Argentine was the preferred candidate among the players in United's dressing room.

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Pochettino remains in place at Paris Saint-Germain and may not prove straightforward to appoint in the summer.

Ajax boss Erik Ten Hag is another major contender for the United role, while it has not entirely been ruled out that Rangnick could stay on beyond the end of the current campaign.

The German has lost just one of his 17 matches in charge at Old Trafford but is due to leave his current role in June to commence a two-year consultancy role at the club.

He has now indicated that there must be strong and consistent links throughout the club of how United must approach the appointment and highlighted the impact of Guardiola at City.

Rangnick told his Friday press conference: "Pep has a clear idea of how he wants to play.

"This idea is the headline for everything that happens at the club; recruitment, players they sign or who they sell.

"This is the secret of their success and their guideline for everything that they do."

Questions also focused specifically on who that appointment should be but not only did Rangnick not shed light on the situation, he admitted it was something that has not been discussed at length.

Rangnick added: "I have no idea. I am here until the end of the season and it is important to develop the players.

"We have had one or two meetings with the head of scouting. We have not spoken about the new manager too much."

United still have several objectives to meet this season under the guidance of Rangnick, most notably helping to guide the club to a top-four finish in the Premier League.

The team are currently fourth in the standings but Arsenal are only two points behind with three games in hand, while Spurs are five points behind with two games more to play.

United also have a tough run-in to the campaign while their Champions League Round of 16 tie against Atletico Madrid is poised at 1-1 after last month's draw in the Spanish capital.